Think Progress
Everything You Need To Know About The Koch BrothersOur guest blogger is Tony Carrk, Policy Director for Progress Central.
Today, the Center for American Progress Action Fund released a report shedding light on the vast Koch network and how it operates. The report shows that Charles and David Koch have used the considerable wealth (they are worth a combined $44 billion) to push policies that put their profits ahead of the interests of most Americans.
The report finds:
- Grassroots organizing for big business. The Koch brothers use their considerable wealth to bankroll the right wing, including the Tea Party. This serves the purpose of furthering not only their right-wing ideology but also their bottom line. Koch Industries has a lot to gain from gutting government oversight and electing candidates who oppose government regulation, especially in the oil-and-gas industry.
- $85 million to 85 think tanks. Identification of at least $85 million the Koch brothers have given to at least 85 right-wing think tanks and advocacy groups over the past decade and a half.
- State organizing. The Koch brothers are active at the state level, spending $5.2 million on candidates and ballot measures in 34 states since 2003. They donated directly to 13 governors that won election last year.
- Over 70% of the GOP Freshman. The Kochs donated directly to 62 of the 87 members of the House GOP freshman class.
- 2012. The Kochs are not going away. In fact, they have already pledged to raise $88 million for the 2012 election and have started scheduling events for potential Republican presidential candidates.
Read the full report here.
This report is intended to be a guide to help progressives map out the vast network of influence the Koch brothers have built over the last decades. By exposing the Koch brothers’ agenda and shedding light on how they operate, progressives can force a public debate that will show that the Koch brothers are outside the mainstream of most Americans and that they are putting their self-interest and right wing agenda ahead of middle-class families.
American Association for Justice Koch Brothers Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America
The Koch Brothers, big tobacco, insurance companies, and the drug industry: all behind the shadowy corporate front group known as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). On the surface, ALEC is mostly comprised of thousands of state legislators, each paying a nominal fee to attend ALEC retreats and receive model legislation. In reality, corporations pay ALEC a king’s ransom to access legislators to distribute radical legislation that puts corporate interests over American workers and consumers.
So, while the membership appears to be public sector, corporate money dominates ALEC. In fact, public sector membership dues account for only around one percent of ALEC’s annual revenues. ALEC claims to be nonpartisan, but its pro-corporate, anti-consumer mission is clear.
Read about ALEC’s hand in protecting oil companies, chemical manufacturers and Wall Street banks in AAJ’s report here:
ALEC: Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America >>
AAJ Release: Report Lifts Veil on ALEC’s Pro-Corporate, Anti-Consumer Mission >>
Executive Summary:
Few have ever heard of it, but the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, is the ultimate smoke filled back room.
On the surface, ALEC’s membership is mostly comprised of thousands of state legislators. Each pays a nominal membership fee in order to attend ALEC retreats and receive model legislation. ALEC’s corporate contributors, on the other hand, pay a king’s ransom to gain access to legislators and distribute their corporate-crafted legislation.
So, while the membership appears to be public sector, the bankroll is almost entirely private sector. In fact, public sector membership dues account for only around one percent of ALEC’s annual revenues. ALEC claims to be nonpartisan, but in fact its free-market, pro-business mission is clear.
The result has been a consistent pipeline of special interest legislation being funneled into state capitols. Thanks to ALEC, 826 bills were introduced in the states in 2009 and 115 were enacted into law.
Behind the scenes at ALEC, the nuts and bolts of lobbying and crafting legislation is done by large corporate defense firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon. A law firm with strong ties to the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries, it has long used ALEC’s ability to get a wide swath of state laws enacted to further the interests of its corporate clients.
ALEC’s campaigns and model legislation have run the gamut of issues, but all have either protected or promoted a corporate revenue stream, often at the expense of consumers. For example, ALEC has worked on behalf of:
- Oil companies to undermine climate change proponents;
- Pharmaceutical manufacturers, arguing that states should be banned from importing prescription drugs;
- Telecom firms to block local authorities from offering cheap or free municipally-owned broadband;
- Insurance companies to prevent state insurance commissioners from requiring insurers to meet strengthened accounting and auditing rules;
- Big banks, recommending that seniors be forced to give up their homes via reverse mortgages in order to receive Medicaid;
- The asbestos industry, trying to shut the courthouse door to Americans suffering from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases; and,
- Enron to deregulate the utility industries, which eventually caused the U.S. to lose what the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) estimated as $5 trillion in market value.
Koch Brothers' Products -- We're Surrounded.If you have been following news about the Koch brothers, you might be curious as to which products they manufacture.
Lots!
List of koch brothers products
Georgia-Pacific also distributes paper towels, napkins and soap dispensing systems used in commerical settings. Some GP commercial toilet paper brands: Envision, Coronet®, SCA, Tork and Fort James. GP produces Pacific Garden liquid soaps...
Georgia-Pacific produces ink and office paper under the GP label and the Spectrum® family of office paper products.
Wood Products:Georgia-Pacific is the largest manufacturer of plywood in the U.S..
Including Plytanium Plywood®, DryPly® plywood, Ply-Bead®.
Georgia-Pacific is one of the country's largest suppliers of corrugated boxes and containers.
Various, numerous wood products, dimensional lumber and building materials.
ToughRock®, Fireguard®, DensArmor and DensShield® gypsum board.
Textiles and Plastics
via Invista Products:
- Stainmaster
- Dacron
- Lycra
- CoolMax
- SolarMax
- Polarguard
- Thermolite
- Antron
Comforel fiberfill - DBE® dibasic esters
Tactel
Tactesse Carpet Fibers - Terathane
- ADI-Pure®
- Polyshield®
- Polyclear®
- Oxyclear™
- Performa®
Cordura fabric
Supplex® Fabric
Somerelle® Bedding
Invista produces a large selection of products under this business, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymers for carbonated soft drink, water, beer, juice, food and custom container applications. Production also includes polyester intermediate feedstocks, film products, fibers, and specialty polymers for a variety of applications, inlcuding PBT-based engineering polymer.
Chemicals, Coal & Oil:
Through its subsidiaries Koch operates refineries in Alaska, Minnesota and Texas, with a combined crude oil processing capacity of more than 800,000 barrels per day. Koch Industries owns or operates about 4,000 miles of pipelines that transport crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas liquids and chemicals. Koch Minerals and its affiliates are among the world’s largest dry-bulk commodity handlers, marketing and trading more than 40 million tons of coal, coke, cement and other related products annually. Flint Hills Resources produces about 9 billion pounds of building-block chemicals per year. Koch is a leading producer of paving and roofing asphalt. www.kochind.com
Koch Industries Produces:
* Gasoline
* Diesel
* Jet fuel
* Naphtha
* Asphalt
* Benzene
* Toluene
* Metaxylene
* Paraxylene
* Orthoxylene
* Cumene
* Cycohexane
* Heavy reformate
* Pseudocumene
* Sure Sol ® 100
* Sure Sol ® 150
* Purified Isophthalic Acid
* Maleic Anhydride
* Trimellitic Anhydride
* Ethylene
* Chemical Grade Propylene
* Polypropylene
* Polyethylene
"In Flint Hills Resources manufacturing plants, various hydrocarbon products are the basic feedstocks. At the refineries, the main feedstock is crude oil. The refineries produce a wide range of transportation fuels for motorists, truckers and the airline industry. In the olefins plants, the company processes natural gas liquids into ethylene and propylene. In the polymers plants, those two products are processed into various forms of olypropylene, which are key ingredients in products such as consumer and healthcare products, packaging and other plastic products. In the aromatics plant, products produced during the crude oil refining process become xylenes, cumenes and other light products. Those products are the building blocks for many other chemicals and plastics."* www.fhrstage.fhr.com
Koch Carbon, LLC and its affiliates globally trade and transport petroleum coke, coal, cement, pulp and paper, sulfur and other related commodities through a network of bulk import/export terminals in the United States and Europe. The C. Reiss Coal Company is a leading supplier of coal and related products typically used in industrial applications or to generate electricity.
Koch Exploration Company, LLC and its affiliates acquire, develop and trade petroleum and natural gas properties in the United States, Canada and Brazil.
Pipelines:
Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. and its affiliates own or operate about 4,000 miles of pipelines that transport crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas liquids and chemicals.
Koch Alaska Pipeline Company, LLC owns an approximate 3 percent interest in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System. Another Koch company has a 28 percent interest in Colonial Pipeline Company, owner and operator of the world’s largest-volume refined products pipeline.
Fertilizer:
Koch Fertilizer, LLC and its affiliates; have the capability to manufacture, market and distribute more than 10 million tons of nitrogen fertilizer products annually. They distribute to dealers, so their product has many a label. "Fertilizer today is an intensely industrial business more akin to oil refining or chemical production."* www.kochind.com
Equipment:
Koch-Glitsch, LP and its affiliates are global leaders in the design, manufacture and installation of mass transfer and mist elimination equipment. The company’s products are found in refineries and chemical plants worldwide.
Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. develops and manufactures membrane separation systems for a variety of applications worldwide, including membranes for microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis.
John Zink Company, LLC and its affiliates are global leaders in ultra-low emission process burners, boiler burners, duct burners, flares and thermal oxidizers. The companies are also global suppliers of flare gas/vapor recovery and vapor combustor systems.
Cattle:
Koch Agriculture Company, operates three ranches with a total of 15,000 head of cattle in Kansas, Montana, and Texas. "Matador Ranch in Texas offers a number of hunting packages that include first-class accommodations. Everything is provided to ensure an enjoyable experience." www.kochind.com
Services:
Koch Supply & Trading companies around the world trade and provide risk management services in crude oil; refined petroleum products; natural gas and gas liquids; gas, power and emissions; industrial metals; and other commodities and financial instruments.
Optimized Process Designs, Inc. provides consulting, engineering, design, procurement, fabrication and construction services for the natural gas and gas processing industries worldwide. OPD has been the general contractor on some of the largest natural gas plants built in the U.S.
Koch Knight LLC and its affiliates are leaders in acid proof solutions. The companies offer construction, engineering and services through a global network of manufacturing and outsourcing facilities. Their products, made from state-of-the-art ceramics and plastic materials, are available worldwide.
IPT provides the resources and know how to deliver world-scale technology for licensing to a growing portfolio of technologies in the polyester, polyurethane and nylon value chains.
European brands:
Colhogar®- Delica®
- Demak'Up®
- Inversoft®
- Kitten Soft®
- Lotus®
- Moltonel®
- Nouvelle®
- Okay
- Tenderly®
- Tutto®
Source = www.kochind.com
Logos property of Koch Industries www.worldofkoch.com
Georgia-Pacific Products
One more time:
Angel Soft®- Brawny®
Coronet® - Dixie®
- Mardi Gras®
MD Bathroom Tissue - Quilted Northern®
- Soft ‘n Gentle®
- Sparkle®
Vanity Fair® - Zee®
Pollution:
University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute, shows Koch Industries as one of the nation’s top 10 polluters/emitters. See detailed emissions breakdowns - www.peri.umass.edu/toxic_index
A Sampling of Environmental Charges Verses Koch:
September 2000, a federal grand jury in Corpus Christi, Texas returned a 97-count indictment against Koch Industries Inc., Koch Petroleum Group for violating federal clean air and hazardous waste laws, due to the release of at least 91 metric tons of uncontrolled, untreated carcinogenic benzene. www.justice.gov
March 2000, Koch petroleum which operates a refinery in Rosemount, Minn., was sentenced to pay a $6 million criminal fine and pay an additional $2 million in remediation costs. This is the largest federal environmental fine ever paid in Minnesota. Koch admitted that it negligently discharged 200,000 - 600,000 gallons of aviation fuel into a wetland and an adjoining waterway. In addition, their way of recovering the fuel (a year and a half later) destroyed a portion of the surrounding ecosystem and wildlife habitat. In a separate offense, Koch dumped a million gallons of wastewater with high ammonia content on the ground between November 1996 and March 1997 and also increased its flow of wastewater into the Mississippi River on weekends when no one monitored discharges. These actions allowed Koch to circumvent the weekly monitoring and reporting requirements of its wastewater discharge permit. The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and was prosecuted by the U. S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota. www.ehso.com
Koch's Sterling butane pipeline had a leak in Lively, Texas, on August 24, 1996. Two teenagers on the way to report the leak drove into the unseen butane cloud, and were killed when the gas exploded and burned. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that severe external pipeline corrosion was the cause of the failure. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Industries
In 1999, a federal jury found that Koch Industries had stolen oil from government and American Indian lands and had lied about its purchases more than 24,000 times. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Industries
In January 2000, Koch Pipeline, agreed to a $35 million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department and the State of Texas as fines for the firm's three hundred oil spills (300 million gallons) in Texas and five other states going back to 1990. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Industries
Climate Change Denial:
A March 2010 Greenpeace report shows that Koch Industry foundations have contributed (2005-2008) nearly $25 million to organizations that oppose clean energy and climate policy. That does not include oil and gas lobbying of $37.9 million. For more info on Koch Industries' funding of Climate Denial Groups -- See GreenPeace's report "Koch Industries Funding the Climate Denial Machine" www.greenpeace.org
In the August, 2010 New York Magazine article 'Covert Operations,' oil tycoon David Koch was quoted as saying, global warming will be a good thing for the planet and will help "support enormously more people because a far greater land area will be available to produce food." www.newyorker.com
Revenue:
Koch Industries currently brings in $100 billion in revenue annually.
Each brother is personally worth $21.5 billion. Together 43 billion.*
Koch Industries spent a total of $37.9 million on oil and gas lobbying
from January 2006 to December 2009. www.sourcewatch.org
*www.thinkprogress.org
Voting:
Since the Citizen's United decision, corporations can now attempt to influence their employees' votes. The Koch Brothers jumped on that band wagon right away and mailed out lists of Koch supported candidates to their 50,000 employees during the last election. See info and a copy of a recommended election packet at www.thenation.com
University Affairs:
"Billionaire's role in hiring decisions at Florida State University raises questions" They give as long as they can pick the teachers. www.tampabay.com
Not Just Florida State...Utah, West Virginia, etc... www.insidehighered.com
The Mercatus Center is a conservative Think Tank at George Mason University’s Arlington campus. It is a university-based research center that makes its research findings available to the media and public policy makers. According to GreenPeace the Mercatus Center has received over 10 million dollars worth of funding from the Koch Brothers. Mercatus also fights environmental regulation, opposes clean energy legislation and lobbys to prevent curbs on industrial pollution. www.greenpeace.org mercatus.org
Photo of Coal Plant: ©2008 Walter Siegmund.
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